| As information and communication technologies (ICT) continue to advance, increasing numbers of people are using mobile devices such as cell phones and laptops to maintain connectivity and productivity while traveling. Transit companies across the world are installing wireless internet services on board to enhance travel time for passengers. Free AmtrakConnect Wi-Fi was launched on the Capitol Corridor on November 28, 2011. UC Davis teamed with Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCPJA) to evaluate the new Wi-Fi service by distributing an on-board survey to passengers in March 2012. Both the descriptive results and a binary logit model identified several factors (trip purpose, device ownership, cellular broadband internet access, occupation, Wi-Fi impor¬tance, streaming importance, and age) that influenced the passengers' choice to use the free Wi-Fi on board. CCJPA indicated that a 1-2% increase in round trips in a year would justify the free Wi-Fi business model. In order to produce a representative sample of passengers, we weighted the sample to deflate the share of high-frequency passengers and inflate the share of low-frequency passengers. The weighted and unweighted samples produced similar results. Descriptive analysis of the weighted sample revealed a trip increase due to Wi-Fi ranging from 0.7% (extreme confidence) to 8.7% (slight confidence), depending on the criteria used for identifying the group affected by Wi-Fi. The group definition that, in our view, constituted the most appropriate balance between liberal and con¬servative criteria was associated with an estimated 2.8% increase in trips. This method also identified Wi-Fi-influenced new riders, who tended to be younger and more likely to be riding for recreation in comparison to continuing and non-Wi-Fi-influenced passengers. |
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